One or more example embodiments of the present invention relate to technology for recognizing a map image and searching for a map area corresponding to the recognized image.
A map recognition method enables a person to directly view a map image and recognize an area corresponding to the map image. However, the person needs to manually retrieve and recognize the area corresponding to the map image and thus, may experience some inconveniences.
Also, a map recognition method based on a map topology may extract topographical information from an input map image in a state in which a database about topographical information of a map is constructed in advance and then may retrieve a map area including the extracted topographical information by referring to the database.
For example, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0052970, published on May 23, 2013, titled “apparatus and method for providing a map service using image matching technology”, discloses technology for receiving a map image, extracting a feature point from the map image, and providing map information about a final image matched to the map image based on the extracted feature point.
However, the existing map recognition method may not readily construct a database about a map image, and may not recognize a map in response to an input of another map image aside from the constructed map image.